Thursday, February 24, 2011

This was yesterday

Public holiday. For the elections. But, seems that most people in Kampala didnt hear that.... but, they knew that there would be elections. So, security fears kept many off the streets.

And, wow, what an election. Ballot stuffing for the ruling party's mayoral candidate. He is a Pastor Peter Ssematimba. And, you know the irony, I like him. The dude has proven effective, and that to me was more important than anything else.
Anyway, before I could go off and vote, first came the media reports, of ballot box stuffing. For him. The reports became more and more numerous. Where the hell did they get the ballots, for goodness's sake? Who did this? And how could such a widespread and co-ordinated thing happen?

Hey, this is Uganda. And, we are talking about the ruling party.

Anyway, the police have this knack of arresting anyone who reports a problem with the voting. So, the opposition took advantage of the media presence. By midday, the reports on TV and fm radio were so many, and so diverse, that the credibility of the poll was in question. So, the Commission canceled the elections for Mayor of Kampala.

So, I went into town. Found many shops closed, but, I had promised myself to do some long standing thing. A promise to my mom-in-law. I had enlisted the help of her son, who was delirious with happiness. No, that is something. I have done it. Yesterday, it was my mom. Today, my mom in law. I will not see her smile, but, am sure she will be happy. And, what did I do? Surely, surely, you do not want me to spoil the suprise? Some son-in-lawish thing. Hey, she was the first to know, the first to accept us. She is my mom, too.
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News of Libya is keeping me off the international channels. I hate it. Simply.... it is just too, can we say, obscene, for a leader to so openly kill his own people, and justify it as....

Oh, well. We have a saying in Uganda. That is Uganda for you. It seems to justify any and all things obsene, taken for granted. But, it is not ok. That is not Uganda, or any country. That is not Libya, or Africa. We can do better. We have to believe that we can.

I have been reading this article, 'An Obscene Piety', that seeks to highlight the signs of religion gone bad. I am sure the people, the religious leaders in Uganda will not agree.

Few things are more vulgar or indecent than violence masked as piety. From the crucifixion of Christ to martyrdom of saints, from burning innocent women at the stake to Klan crosses in front lawns, we know in our hearts when religion has gone bad.

Our Pentecostal Ministers in Uganda look with awe to the American leaders of the Right. To them, this New Fundamentalism typifies what is good and holy. I like it. I love its call to thought, because, indeed it is. There has been a call to an Obscenity of Piety, which people have heeded. It is time it was looked at from another angle. Here is the article again.

LOL, people have been asking me whether a Ugandan witchdoctor can ungay one..... LOL. Scott Miles reports that he is still gay. So, the answer is no? Well, the Pastors believe they can do it. Send the question to Ssempa, or Male. They are very voluble on the subject.

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And, since I am posting this today, I should add to it, not so?

Yes. Has been a long day. Went to work, but spent deal of time out, trying to do some things which just needed to be done. But, managed to accomplish a lot.

Which is good. Because otherwise I would not feel good at all about the day.....

But, back to the web browsing. The election chaos of yesterday were in the papers. Good. That kind of stupidity needs to widely shown for what it is. Disgusting, and egg on the face for many people. Of course, I dont think that the concerned will learn. Or, the lesson will be that the cheating must not be discovered....

Robbery Report: Update on Kampala Taxis
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You remember, don’t you, that in the recent past we had taxi robberies in
Kampala. I wrote about it here.
Now, the law-enforcement people have come down har...